Army rebuts Cambodia protest, insists actions stay within Thai territory
Royal Thai Army said all areas under its control are within Thailand’s borders, rejecting Cambodia’s occupation claim.
- The Royal Thai Army has formally denied a protest from Cambodia, insisting that all its actions are taking place within Thailand's own territory.
- A Thai army spokesperson accused Cambodia of misunderstanding the border alignment for decades and, as a result, encroaching on Thai land with troops and civilian construction.
- Thailand claims it has previously lodged hundreds of protests against Cambodia for what it considers long-standing encroachment into its sovereign territory.
Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army, issued a clarification on Sunday (January 4) after Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed a note of protest accusing Thailand of occupying areas it said were located in Cambodian territory across four provinces.
He said Thailand “confirms it has not occupied any area within Cambodia’s borders”, adding that all areas currently under Thai control as part of efforts to organise and regulate the area “are within Thailand’s territory”.
Winthai said that for decades, Cambodia may have misunderstood the alignment of the border in multiple locations along the Thai–Cambodian frontier.
As a result, he claimed, Cambodia had encroached into Thai territory by deploying troops and establishing military bases.
In some areas, he added, there had also been support for the construction of buildings, homes and civilian communities that extended into Thai territory at several points.
He said Thailand had lodged hundreds of protests through the MOU 43 (MOU 2000 for land border demarcation and freezing environmental changes) mechanism.
The army spokesperson insisted Thailand’s current actions clearly fall within Thai sovereignty.
Winthai said Cambodia had encroached on certain points for so long that it had become accustomed to believing those areas were Cambodian territory.
